On Tuesday Mike and I arrived in Kyoto via the Shinkansen (a train that travelled at speeds around 300 m.p.h.).  We checked into our hotel and began walking around the city, looking for a place to eat dinner.  We headed toward the Heian Jingu (a Shinto shrine built in 1895 for the 1100 year anniversary of Kyoto). 

We must have looked lost (I was reading the guide book) because a woman stopped to ask us (in English) if we needed help.  She helped us find a restaurant (although most restaurants really look like small family-owned taverns) and we had a great udon dinner with some Kirin.  We then wandered about the city and came across a park with a fenced-in bunny yard.  I saw 3 bunnies in the bunny yard and was saying hello to the bunnies when an old man stopped to laugh at me. 

I'm telling you Mike and I are entertainment for the Japanese.  Everyone on the train was laughing at us because we had big suitcases.  Unlike Europe, which has compartments by the doors of the trains for luggage, the Shinkansen has no luggage cars or closets.  Everyone had small carry-on sized suitcases with them that fit in the racks above the train seats.  They pointed at us and our big luggage and laughed, as they knew there was nowhere to stick our suitcases.  That's it - from now on I'm travelling light and utilizing the hotel laundry service!

We did have a good laugh at the hotel bar though.  We were sitting near a older couple (late 60s early 70s) when we realized they were both drunk.  I mean really, really drunk.  There was an empty champange bottle and several Martini glasses on their table.  They began to get loud, and the man was laughing.  He would say something to the woman (in Japanese), who would slur something back and then whack him upside the head and then he would laugh and laugh.  Then the woman got up, almost fell down, signed the check and yelled at the man to come on.  Unfortunately, as soon as he got out of his chair he fell on the floor.  The bartender had to help him in another chair, and Mike told another hotel employee to get a wheelchair, because the man was too drunk to walk back to his room.  But at least the guy was a happy drunk!  He was still laughing!